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Merritt’s Boat and Engine Works – Jane S

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An evolution of Merritt boats, in formation. The 42’ Caliban, built solely by Roy Merritt in 1967, the 72’ Brier Patch built in 2009. And the 86’ Destiny, splashed in 2011.

In all of the history of sport fishing, you’d be hard-pressed to find more influential boat builders than the Merritt family. In the late 40s, patriarchs Franklin (Roy) and Ennis Merritt bought a 10-acre tract on the Intracoastal Waterway in Pompano, Beach Florida. They planned to use the site to start a charter fleet of head boats. The boatyard began as a way for the brothers to maintain their charter boats.

In 1955, the brothers’ two sons, Buddy and Allen, began building boats on the property. Buddy designed and built the boats, while Allen ran the business. Allen’s son, Roy Merritt, eventually worked his way into the business. By the time Roy built his first Merritt boat, the yard had actually stopped building boats for a couple of years. Roy Merritt’s first build was hull number 20—and it would be quite influential.

“I was in my late 20s and we had actually stopped building boats in 1968 or 1969,” says Roy Merritt. “I’d always worked on the boat building side. My Uncle Buddy died in March of 1971 but a guy approached me and asked if we could build another 42-footer for him. And I said, ‘Man, I don’t know.’”

“So, I went to my father who wasn’t a builder, he was sort of the frontman, and my grandfather, who was still alive and he knew a lot of stuff. All the boat builders were gone. But I went to these guys and I said, ‘What do you think?’ They said, ‘Do you think you can do it?’ I said, ‘I don’t know, I guess. I’ve been around it enough. I think I can do it.’ They said, ‘Go ahead and built it. If you don’t like it then we will just burn it!’ So that boat became hull 20…and was called the Jane S.”

The Jennie Pie, built as the Jane S. Photo courtesy of the Matthew Kersting Collection

“It’s very significant because if it wasn’t for that boat, I’m not sure that we would have started building again. I really don’t know,” says Merritt. “At that time, we had a yard running with plenty of repair work. The thought was that we were done with the building. Once you start building though, it becomes an affliction. That’s what you want to do. You’d much rather build them, than repair them. We are on hull 109 now…it’s an 88-footer.”

“The guys who came to me to build the Jane S were Fred “Paunch” Stone and his brother Pat. George Schiegert ran the boat, they all grew up here in Pompano—they were Hillsborough Inlet boys,” says Merritt. “I already had the patterns for the frame and somehow it came off pretty good. I knew I could figure it out…it just might have taken a little while. I can’t remember that much, but let’s just say it was concerning when I started.”

Almost 90 boats later, there’s probably not a whole lot of similarities between the Jane S and the yachts produced at Merritt’s today—at least not in terms of construction. “Throughout your boat-building life there are a lot of things that influence you. It’s never any one thing. Every time you build one, you try to make a better one. You’re always looking for those little things that will make it just a bit better. I think all builders work that way,” says Merritt.

“We transitioned from frame to cold mold, to fiberglass to composite. It’s a lot more interesting now with a lot of new products,” says Merritt. “Everything is cored, we have Kevlar in the hull, the superstructure and top are all carbon fiber. So, you have Kevlar for the toughness, carbon fiber for the stiffness and you can build these boats real strong and real light. The boats we build now will still be around 100 years from now…if you want to keep putting engines in them. They are not going to wear out.”

“What do our customers want…I have a simple answer…they want it all!” says Merritt. “All the things you think you did right…you still learn a lot by doing things wrong. Our latest project that’s out on the water right now is a 77. We think this one is pretty good. Michael Peters did the bottom design and the boat is just an animal. A real mover and a goer.”

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Ritchie Howell Custom Carolina Yachts – TFB

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The Sea Fix, a Ritchie boat splashed in 2019, exemplifies Howell’s modern creations—the heritage of which can be traced to a conversation between two North Carolina charter captains. Photo courtesy Pepper Ailor

There seems to be no end to the boat building talent in Wanchese, North Carolina. Ritchie Howell stands as a fine example of a man that has mastered the fine art of crafting custom, sportfishing machines. Like many others in this area, he learned about boats by using them every day as a hook and line commercial tuna fisherman.

“I fished alongside Paul Spencer and we would always push each other to make the day. We would joke around about quitting all this one day and building boats,” says Howell. “One day, Paul said, ‘I’m going to do it. I’ve got a contract on my boat; I’m going to sell it and put up a boat shop and build a boat.’ So that’s what we did, we built him a boat.”

“We got about three-quarters of the way through the build and the boat sold. That was the Biopsy. Well, since I had put some money into the jig and the building with Paul, the next boat was mine…so we started my boat. I was still charter fishing at the time and my motor blew up. So, I sold that boat rather quickly. That was the Anticipation.”

“After that Paul was all-in and wanted to big,” says Howell. “But I wasn’t ready for that yet. To build one or two at a time was one thing, but I wasn’t ready for 15 at time. Paul offered to buy my piece of the jig and the building and I agreed. He bought me out and we went our separate ways.” But of course, that wasn’t the end of the story.

“I had a trip one day in the Fall, and as I backed into my slip, I saw Paul sitting there in his truck,” says Howell. “As soon as my people hopped off, Paul hopped on. He said ‘I’ve got about five people ready to build a boat right now. I know you have the money to put up a building because I just bought you out. You need to put up a building and do this. You know what you are going to get if you stay here charter fishing…you are going to starve to death.’ He was right. He really talked me into doing my own thing. That’s when I put up the building.”

With a building going up, but no boat on the horizon, Howell continued fishing and on one tournament trip up to New Jersey, he got lucky.

“On the ferry ride home, I met a guy who said he always wanted a Carolina boat, and we just started to talking,” says Howell. “I told him how I just started building a boat shop without a boat to build… and that’s how it all went down. Crazy, right?” “We started in 2000 and the boat was originally called the TFB, a 65-footer,” says Howell. “I’ve got a list of all the things those letters could possibly stand for…but I think I’ll just leave it up to everybody’s imagination. Most of them you probably couldn’t put into a magazine article anyway.”

“I remember on that first one I would lose sleep at night, worry about what was coming down the pike and what we had to do. I used to sweat it big time,” says Howell. “Not anymore…I sleep like a baby. I like to look at the plans and figure out how we are going to attack certain aspects of the build. I’m much more relaxed about it than I used to be.”

Ritchie Howell’s boats are a reflection of his life spent on the water.

With his 32nd boat, a 61-footer, about to come out of the shed, Howell says that there are pretty dramatic differences between hull number 1 and the boats he puts out today. “Our shape has actually changed drastically. It’s pretty much night and day from what we build now compared to back then…there’s nothing remotely similar between the two. Now, everything is computer generated and engineered to the nines. Our first one was a hand-drawn…we cut it by hand.

“That’s a great way to learn about boat building, but you can’t compete with a computer. We have lofted our own boats in the past, if we didn’t have time to get a jig cut or somebody was looking for a bargain basement deal, but you have to use a computer-generated jig now. What we do is a lot more exacting than it used to be. I used to think, ‘If someone would just give me a million dollars, oh man the boat I could build!’ Nowadays a million doesn’t even scratch the surface…it’s just way it’s gotten to be.”

“When I think, and look back at the first boat, I want to look at it with a critical eye…and see how I’d want to change it. If I had to do it over again today it would be a different animal! Those old boats are beautiful with their classic lines and all that stuff, but you have to be a bit more progressive nowadays.”

When asked about what makes Ritchie Howell boats stand out from the crowd, Howell says that,

“I know it sounds weird, but I’m more of a boutique boat builder. I’m not trying to build a bunch of boats at one time. I just want to build one or two boats. The biggest difference here is, if someone calls and wants to know if their oil change pump is installed, I know. I don’t have to call a foreman or whatever. There is a one-on-one relationship with the people I’m building the boat for.” “I also believe that for the quality of product we put out, we are very value-based. I’m not saying I’m cheap, because I’m not…Nothing in this business is cheap. But you do get a lot of bang for your buck here. We don’t have a real fancy facility but it’s really all you need for boatbuilding. I also don’t have a lot of the overhead that other guys have.”

For more information on Ritchie Howell Custom Carolina Yachts, please e-mail info@inthebite.com or fill out the form below and our InTheBite concierge service will be happy to assist you.